Joel Kleber

07/06/2026

🦒🇦🇺🦁🦘

02/06/2026

Very surprised to be named number 1 again in the annual Top 30 report for 2026.

I would have been happy with just being named again; however, I was quite shocked at being named again with the top spot, considering the high-calibre of people named in the report.

In saying that, I do believe we stand out with what we do at Jim's in franchising world.

We are very transparent online and do the following:

Embrace founder-led marketing
Showcase our franchisor and franchisee stories daily
Embrace franchisee-generated content
Post multiple podcasts weekly for years now
Post daily on YouTube and most social media platforms
Share our training
Have a digital avatar of our founder online
Have our CEO, answer questions daily in videos from the public
Host a monthly public live Q & A
Actively encourage our franchisees to use AI
Create videos for our franchisors to use for sales
Don't edit for retention, but showcase trust

It's been an accidental system of trust online that we have been building video by video, post by post, over 7 years now, and the group's growth is underpinned by that, along with our great franchisors and franchisees.

All of what we do online supports what I believe is the best and fairest home services franchise in the market.

We are on track to be at 6,000 franchisees hopefully soon.

It still surprises as well just how much research people do into us before enquiring now.

People quite often tell me they have watched 100's of videos or podcasts over years, before speaking with us.

Videos created 7 years ago are still being consumed and building the trust required for people to take the leap into Jim's.

Best part of this for me however, is when I meet people in new franchisee training who tell me they have been watching our content for years before enquiring.

I will then interview these people after they start as a franchisee and I ask them, is "What your experience marrying up with our content online"?

They always tell me, "Yes and it's much better".

Big thanks to my wife, franchisors and our franchisees for the support over the years.

29/05/2026

If you see or hear this from agency, question it.

25/05/2026

It was a great honour to speak at the Franchise Council Australia's VIC Insights in Richmond last week.

I shared a system that I know called the 'Franchise Trust Engine', which is something I have learned over the 7 years.

I think it's a pretty cool story with what we have been able to achieve as a group.

I think what we do is simple, however, when you get out of the bubble and share your ideas with others in the industry, you realise that we have been doing some pretty ground-breaking stuff in franchising.

Everyone says the USA is 5 years ahead of where AUS is with franchising, however, we have the franchise trust engine, I think we have them in that area.

Our approach of being transparent online with numerous content initiatives is certainly not the normal approach, however, it's worked for us.

24/05/2026

Looking forward to being one of the keynote speakers at the upcoming FANZNFC26 conference in Wellington next month.

I will be talking about the franchise trust engine and my methods when it comes to building trust online using modern media.

If you're wondering how I got this opportunity.

It's not something I have sought at all, however, I have been getting asked to do speaking based purely on what I share on LinkedIn over the last two years.

That hasn't happened overnight either.

I have been ultra consistent over two years, and each post provides value and builds trust online.

If you provide value online, things happen.

To get to that point, there have been 7 years of a lot of work as well and you have to earn a story to share, which I have done with Jim's.

I know we are really doing some innovative things in the franchising space and it's the one thing I think we are ahead of over the US brands.

We don't use brokers, consultants etc....we don't need them.

A modern media machine, which I call the franchise trust engine, with our great franchisors and franchisee advocates, has created a machine of growth that will get to 6,000 franchisees hopefully very soon.

24/05/2026

Jim’s franchisees do more than a million jobs a year conservatively.

When you join as a new franchisee you can leverage off that 5 star goodwill in your area built over years.

Plus, people actually know our name.

Brand matters more than ever.

22/05/2026

18/05/2026

Google changed the review rules and most tradies are about to lose reviews they worked hard for.

The April 2026 update bans:

Asking customers to mention your name (“ask for Dave”)

Handing your phone or iPad to a customer to leave a review on the spot

Paying staff or apprentices per review

Offering a discount on the next job for a review

• Only sending the review link to happy customers
• Pressuring the customer before you leave the job

Why this matters for your business:

Google’s AI is already wiping reviews that break these rules. No email. No warning.

You log in and the count has dropped.

Reviews drive the Map Pack.

The Map Pack drives your phone ringing.

Lose reviews, lose jobs.

What to fix this week:

Strip names out of your review request templates.

Stop the “leave it on my phone before I go” habit.

Send a follow-up text the day after the job is done with your Google review link.

End any bonus tied to review numbers.

Reply to reviews like a person, not a script.

The new playbook is simple. Do great work.

Send one clean text the next day.

Let the customer write whatever they want.

That’s it. That’s the whole strategy now.

13/05/2026

Think your falling behind with AI? Think again!

12/05/2026

It was a great honour to speak at the Digital Marketers Australia Conference yesterday about the Jim's Group growth story using content and transparency.

I shared the franchise trust engine method I have been building at Jim's for several years now.

First time speaking to a group outside of the Jim's network, so it was good to get the first one out of the way in time for my FANZ keynote next month.

Great to meet some new faces and thanks to everyone for their kind words after.

Big thanks to Jimmy Mitchell for the recommendation and Stephen E. for allowing me to speak at his event.

A great event that everyone in business or marketing should attend.

Check out the Digital Marketers Australia website for more details about upcoming events.